About Us

Mission Statement

At NiK Kacy, our passion is to provide a wide range of footwear and accessory options that celebrate individuality and non-conformity. Our mission is to create a safe and inclusive community where everyone can express their unique style through their fashion. Our commitment to quality, comfort, and sustainability is unwavering, as we strive to meet the needs of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity. We believe that everyone deserves to feel confident and comfortable in their shoes, and we are dedicated to making this a reality for all our customers.

Who Is NiK Kacy?

NiK Kacy is the Creator and Executive Producer of Equality Fashion Week, the 1st LGBTQ+focused Fashion Week in LA, as well as the Founder and President of NiK Kacy Footwear, a LGBT-certified business, and the first gender-equal / gender-free footwear and accessories for genders and identities in all spectrums. As a gender nonconforming, transmasculine individual who identifies as nonbinary, Kacy’s designs are inspired by both their personal identity, style, cultural background, fashion, and activism. Their hope is to provide a solution to individuals who have been seeking footwear alternatives that fit not only their feet but also their authentic expression of self. Their mission is to utilize fashion as activism in a way that inspires change so that gender is no longer a force that limits or restricts, and EQUALITY becomes the vernacular that ALL individuals speak. 

Kacy’s journey began shortly after traveling throughout Europe in search of masculine-styled shoes made to fit smaller, petite feet.  For most of their life, Kacy was unable to find a proper pair of shoes that were both comfortable and fitting of their identity. Tired of being under-represented, Kacy set out to discuss with manufacturers why shoes have traditionally been divided between men and women only.  After being told repeatedly by the footwear industry that the market for this niche was too small and therefore non-lucrative, Kacy decided to design their own collection of gender-free shoes in a range of gender-equal sizes. In addition to footwear, Kacy also designs accessories such as their one-of-a-kind modular genderfree utility holster, and other accessories that are gender-neutral in design. Kacy’s designs break the traditional ideals of the gender binary, while allowing individuals to walk their own way, no matter how they identify.

Since their successful Kickstarter campaign in March 2015, NiK Kacy has been featured in numerous publications including, but not limited to, Autostraddle, Advocate, Adweek, CNBC, DapperQ, Forbes, Fortune, LA Times, Out Magazine, Ozy, PBS, Refinery29, Ryot, South China Morning Post, The Huffington Post, and WWD.  In their spare time, NiK Kacy is dedicated to the local and global LGBTQ+ community in raising awareness, visibility, education and supporting the community at large. Kacy is part of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s Trans-Inclusion Task Force, is on the Board of Directors at TransCanWork and The Queer 26, and is also on the Advisory Board of GendrFwd, a new non-profit focused on increasing the visibility of non-binary and gender non-conforming community. 

One of Kacy’s many passions include supporting local LGBTQ+ focused nonprofit organizations like the LA LGBT Center, the TransLatina Coalition, and Trans Chorus of LA. NiK was a committee member for the LA LGBT Center’s An Evening with Women event for 8 consecutive years and continues to volunteer whenever possible. Kacy was recently featured in the Wells Fargo “Empowerful'' campaign and was also featured in the Kenneth Cole “Make Now Matter” campaign to help spread the message of community and positive social impact on a large scale. With a background in fine arts, entertainment and advertising, Kacy was a former Senior Producer/Project Manager for Google, where they led the LA Google office ERG, the LA Googlers. Kacy now uses their expertise to help the community with events such as Equality Fashion Week and connecting their community network in order to help uplift countless organizations and individuals. Currently, NiK Kacy is committed to raising funds and increasing visibility for the Equality Fashion Week brand and hopes to bring EFW to other cities where representation for LGBTQ+ communities are most needed.

Photo Credit: Alex Schmider
[NiK Kacy is a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise]

Watch how it all started with a dream, a supportive community, and a Kickstarter campaign!